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| For Immediate Release | |
| Oct 19, 1998 | Contact: Press Office 202-646-5172 |
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Refusal to accept money from Hirschfeld in Jones case constitues admission of illegality Judicial Watch Chairman and General Counsel Larry Klayman has put the White House on notice that the public interest watchdog group will go to court to block any attempt to use funds from Abe Hirschfeld or the "Presidential Legal Expense Trust" to settle Paula Jones' suit against President Clinton. In its "Interim Report" to Congress on the Clinton scandals, Judicial Watch made a strong case that the establishment and maintenance of the Presidential Legal Expense Trust constitute impeachable offenses by the President. "When President Clinton declined to allow Abe Hirschfeld to pay part of the Jones' settlement (as reported in today's Washington Post), he conceded that he could not receive or benefit from monies paid by American citizens," Klayman stated. "The President's admission now means that he must return the money solicited and accepted by his legal defense funds as well." Klayman said, "There is an unmistakable prohibition in the U.S. Code at 5 U.S.C. 7353, providing 'no . . . officer or employee of the executive, legislative or judicial branch shall solicit or accept anything of value.' According to Congressman Chris Cox and Congresswoman Deborah Pryce, in reference to the Trust, '[it] would be difficult to draft a clearer prohibition.'" "The President should be taking out bank loans at market rates to meet his legal expenses," Klayman said. "He has no right to solicit funds for this purpose or to put the heavy hand on insurance companies to improperly foot the bill. (Judicial Watch previously raised a successful challenge to this practice as well). The Presidential Legal Expense Trust is, quite simply, an on-going illegal enterprise. If the White House attempts to use funds from the Trust to settle with Paula Jones, Judicial Watch will offer a vigorous new court challenge." |
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